Door-latch.



w. KEATINGL DOOR LATCH APPLICATION FILED AUG. 3, 190B.

Patented May 4, 1909.

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UNTTEE STATES PATENT @FFTQE.

WILLIAM. KEATING, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

DOOR-LATCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 4, 1909.

Original application filed April 10, 1908, Serial No. $26,218. Dividedand this application filed August 3, 1908. Serial No. 46,586.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM KEATING, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of the city of New York, in the county of New York and Stateof New York, United States of America, have invented. certain new anduseful improvements in Door- Latches, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to an improved door latch 'which is especiallyadaptable for use with sliding doors such as are commonly used inconjunction with elevators, and its object is to improve upon devices ofthis class and to provide a latch which will have no portion projectingbeyond the edge of a door when the latter is open.

My invention further consists in an arrangement for causing the movementof the door to actuate the latch mechanism so that its action isautomatic.

The invention resides in the construction and arrangement of parts whichI will describe in the following s ecification, the novel features ofwhich wil be set forth in appended claims.

in a former application Number 4-2:),218, filed by me on the th ofApril, 1903, the present invention was disclosed, and the subject-matterof the present application is divided from such prior application.

Referring to the drawing, Figure 1 is a front elevation of aself-closing edgewise movable door with my invention applied thereto.Fig. 2 is a front elevation, on a son-ion hat lar er scale, of the doorlatch mechanism show. ing its parts in two of their positions. 3 is asimilar view of the parts in another of their positions. Fig. 4 is aplan view of the door latch mechanism with the parts in the position inwhich they are shown in Fig. Fig. 5 is a sectional side elevation of adetail of a frictional actuating device which may be used in conjunctionr-iith the other parts of the latch actuating mechanism. 6 is a frontelevation of a modified form of the invention.

Like characters of reference designate corresponding parts in all of thefigures.

1O designates a sliding door of ordinary construction which is supportedupon the rail 11 by means of roller hangers l2 and 13. Aflixed to thedoor is a horizontally disposed toothed rack 14. An internally threadedfor patent, Serial l l 1 l spur-gear 15 is in mesh with this rack at aposition at one side of the door opening. The upper and lower surfacesof this gear member are provided with antifriction supporting devicescarried by a bracket 16 at fixed to a holding block 17 upon the doorframe at one side of the door opening.

18 designates a threaded vertical shaft which passes through theinternally threaded portion of the gear member so that the latter formsa rotatable nut upon the shaft. This shaft is also supported from theholding block 17. A weight 19 upon one end of this shaft has a tendencyto move the shaft donnward.

V3 hen the door is opened the rack 14; will rotate the gear member 15and the latter will cause the vertical shaft 18 to be moved upward.against the action of gravity. hi hen the door is released the Weight 19Will force the vertical shaft downward, thus rotating the gear member 15and causing the latter, by its engagement with the toothed rack, toclose the door.

The mechanism which I have thus briefly described is fully set forth inmy prior application for patent to which i have above referred.

The latch which I have invented comprises a latch member 20 which isprovided'with a slot 21 through which a pin or bolt 22 projects. Thispin is aiiixed to the door and supports the latch member both pivot-allyand slidably. 23 designates another slot or opening in the latch memberthrough which another pin or bolt 2% affixed to the door project Theupper surface of the opening 23 is horizontal so that'it, with the slot21, allows the latch member to slide back and forth longitudinally uponthe pins 22 and 24 a certain limited amount. At the inner end of opening23 the latch member is cut away as shown at 25 to form a downwardlyextending continuation of opening 23. 26 is a curved cam surface at thejuncture of the parts 23 and 25 of this opening.

27 is a portion of the latch member which forms a hook upon its outerend. Its inner end is made in the form shown at 28.

28 is a strap EtfllXQCl to the door and arranged to support the end 28.

29 is a handle aflixed to the latch member 20 or made as an integralprojecting part thereof.

30 designates that part of the door frame against which the door isclosed. 31 is a latch receiv ng member or catch piece affixed to thisportion of the door frame and constructed with a shoulder 32 with whichthe hook 27 is arranged to engage and with a beveled or grooved portion33 against which the front end of the hook 27 will strike when the dooris being closed.

40 designates a weighted pendant which is pivotally connected with thelatch member 20 at 41. A pin 42 which is affixed to the door, passesthrough a vertical slot 43 in the endant for a purpose which will appearhereinafter.

44 is a horizontally disposed rod pivotally connected with the lowerportion of the pendant at 45 and carried across the door and through afixed bracket 46 through which it is arranged to slide.

47 and 48 are collars afiixed to the rod 44.

The various parts of the invention have been pointed out and I will nowproceed with a description of their operation. The hook may bedisengaged from the member 31 by being depressed by handle 29. This willcause the latch member to be rotated about the pin 22 until it assumesthe position in which it is shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2. From thisfigure it may be seen that this movement of the latch member will raisethe weighted pendant 40 and will cause the portion in which is theopening 25 to be carried up over the pin 24. The slot 43 allows thependant to make this movement. When in this position the door may beopened and the parts will remain in this position or will resume theirfirst position-that shown in full lines in Fig. 2-until the collar 47strikes against the bracket 46. The collar and bracket are arranged toarrest further move ment of the rod 44, so that as the door 10 is movedfurther to complete its opening, the rod 44 will push the lower end ofpendant 40 forward. As the pendant is pivoted at 42 this will cause thelatch member 20 to be moved back and the parts will then assume thepositions in which they are shown in Fig. 3. The latch member will thusbe drawn back and in so that little or none of it projects beyond theedge of the door. The weight of the pendant has a tendency to hold thelatch member down in horizontal position. If, however, the operatorholds the latch member in its tilted position until the rod 44 acts in amanner above described to move it inward the pin 25 engaging with camsurface 26 will push the latchmember down into its horizontal positionas the latter moves inward. WVhen the door is again closed the collar 47will move out of its engagement with the bracket 46 so that the latchmember may be moved back into its projecting position. The weight of thependant 40 has a tendency to produce this result, but in order to insurea positive return of the parts to the desired positions, the collar 48is provided on the rod 44 and arranged to engage with the bracket 46just before the door has reached its closed position. This will causethe pendant to be drawn back to its central position and will force thelatch member outward. When the latch member comes in contact with thecatch 31 its forward rounded end will abut against the bev-- eled orcurved surface 33, and these two parts acting together, will depress theforward end of the latch. The pendant which is raised at the same tii'neand which looks the hook 27 will cause the latter to be raised up behindthe shoulder 32 as soon as it. has reached the proper position.

In Fig. 6 another form of my invention is shown. Here the latch member50 is pivoted at 51 to the member 10. 52 is a knob or handle by means ofwhich the latch member may be depressed to disengage it frotzn thecatch-piece 31 on the door fram 30. The rear end 53 of the latch memberis heavier than that portion of it which is to the left of the pivot 51,so that this part has a tendency to drop down into the positionindicated by dotted lines. A. cam 54 which is pivoted. to the door at 55is in such a position that it holds up this heavy end of the latchmember. The horizontal rod 44 is pivotally attached to the cam below itspivot and is carried across the door and through the bracket 46 asbefore described. When the door is opened until the collar 47 abutsagainst the bracket 46 it causes the rod to push the over into theposition shown in dotted lines in Fig. 6. This allows the latch n'iemberto drop down as shown in this figure so tl at none of it projects beyondthe end of the door. In closing the door the parts ren'iain in these newpositions until the collar 48 abuts against the bracket 46 and thusarrests further movement of the rod and re turns the cam and latchmexnber to their original positions so that the latter will readilyengage with the catch-piece when these two parts are brought together.

By the arrangements above described the latch member is removed from itsprojecting position when the door is open so that the full width of thedoor opening available for use without the liability of catching andtearing the clothing thereon.

All of the parts of the latch mechanism, except the knob or handle, arepreferably placed inside of the door so that they are out of sight andcannot be tampered with. The various parts of the latch mechanism arefor convenience mounted upon. plates so that the mechanism is complete,self-contained and may be attached to any desired door.

In Fig. 5 a frictional device is shown which is arranged to act upon therod In this figure 6O designates a ball or roller which is held within aguiding member 61. The

lower surface of this guiding member is provided with two planesinclined in opposite directions relative to the upper surface of the rodi l, and the member itself is supported by a bracket (52 which isaifixed to the hold ing plate 17. A spindle 63 projecting upward fromthe guiding member has a weight 6% upon it. The operation of this deviceis as follows: Whenever the rod 44 is moved in one direction or theother, the ball will jam between the rod and one of the inclinedsurfaces of tire member to lock the rod to the guiding member 61 andwill thereby resist the movement of the rod 44. As soon, however, asthis locking effect takes place, the guiding member 61 will be pushedupward against the weight 64 so that the frictional contact between theball and its guiding member will be released and the rod will be allowedto slide. The result of this action is that the rod 44 will perform itsfunction of pushing the pendant 40 or the cam 54 in one direction or theother as soon as the door is moved in either direction so that the projecting portion of the latch member will be drawn in out of itsprojecting position as soon as the door is opened slightly and will bereturned again to its projecting position when the action of closing thedoor is commeneed.

I have illustrated more than one form of my invention to show that I donot limit in sell to any speciiic form or construction of the parts.

il'hile I have s iown my invention applied to a sliding door, it isevident that it is applicable to other types of doors, and one skilledin the art ma 7 readily make such mechanical changes would be necessaryto adapt it to swinging do or.

hat 1 claim is.-

1. A sliding door, a latch member therefor projecting beyond the edge ofsaid door, and means actuated by the movement of th door for positivelymoving said latch men"- ber out of its projecting position when the dooris opened, and for positively moving said latch member back into itsprojecting position when the door is closed.

2. fr sliding door, a latch member pivotally and slidably mounted uponthe door and projecting beyond the edge thereof, a pendant connectedwith the latch member, and means actuated by the movement of the doorfor moving the pendant and thereby l l I l l l l l l causing the pendantto slide the latch member out of its projecting position when the dooris opened and to slide the latch member back again when the door isclosed.

A sliding door, a frame therefor, a latch member pivotally and slidablymounted upon said door and projecting beyond the edge thereof, aweighted pendant connected with the latch member, and a horizontallydisposed rod connected with the pendant and with the door frame andarranged to move the pendant and thereby cause the pendant to slide thelatch member out of its projecting position when the door is opened andto slide the latch member back again when the door is closed.

l. A sliding door, a frame therefor, a catch piece mounted upon theframe, a latch member pivotally and slidably mounted upon the door andprojecting beyond the edge thereof, a weighted pendant connected withthe latch member, a horizontally disposed rod connected with the pendantand with the door frame and arranged to move the pendant and to therebycause the pendant to slide the latch member out of its projectingposition when the door is opened, and means for automatically closingthe door, said means being arranged. to actuate the pendant through saidhorizontally disposed rod to move the pendant and cause the pendant toslide the latch member back into its projecting position by the closureof the door.

5. A sliding door, a latch member pivotally and slidably mounted uponthe door and projecting beyond the edge thereof, said latch member beingprovided with a cam surface, a stationary pin engaging with said camsurface and arranged to guide the latch member into the desiredposition, a pendant connected with the latch member, and means actuatedby the movement of the door for moving the pendant and thereby causingthe pendant to slide the latch member out of its projecting positionwhen the door is opened and to slide the latch member back again whenthe door is closed.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM KEATING.

Witnesses ELLA TUon, ERNEST lV. MAR-SHALL.

